What's Happening in 2A?: Brrrrr...it's cold!!!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Brrrrr...it's cold!!!

Well....I guess old man winter decided to pay us an early visit this year!! I can't believe we have had snow already this year AND a late start!! Please make sure that you watch the news, listen to the radio, or get a text message when we have winter weather. That way you're not bringing your child to school earlier than needed.

This week in literacy we have been discussing several comprehension strategies: make inferences, recall and retell, and author's purpose.

We learned that author's don't write everything in the story so we need to use what we already to know to figure out what the author means - this is making inferences. It's a really difficult comprehension strategy to understand so I am pleased that my kiddos are beginning to understand this.
Another GREAT strategy is recall and retell - I'm working with my kids to make sure they understand and remember what they read. When readers recall and retell they need to think about what the page was about and then tell someone about it. This is a great strategy to practice at home.
Finally, we continue to discuss why author's are writing their stories: to inform, to persuade, or to entertain.

In math we are practicing our addition and subtraction strategies and our money skills!! We went to a "farmer's market" in our math journals and bought fruit and vegetables. Second graders are expected to recognize and count coins so please help your child with this if you see them struggling. Next week I am going introduce making change...yikes!!!

This week, students wrote a personal narrative about a time they overcame a problem. They did a super job with this! Yesterday we did an activity to practice stretching sentences. As an class we started with a basic sentence: We had fun. Students needed to add details to it and turn it into a complex sentence. Then, they were able to practice this with partners and share them with the class. I expect my second graders to write good, complex sentences.

I hope everyone has a super weekend. It sounds like we are supposed to have decent weather so hopefully you are able to enjoy the outdoors. Please continue to read with your child each night!!

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Comprehension Skills and Strategies

Distinguish Fact and Opinion: Your child learned that facts are statements that can be proved. Opinions are what someone believes. The words I believe, I think, and in my view are clues that someone is expressing an opinion. Most students are able to state a fact; however, opinions are more challenging. Please practice this at home.

Sequence Events: Sequence is the order in which event take place. Clue words such as first, next, then, and last help readers know when events occur. When your child is summarizing have them sequence the events using the clue words.

Make Inferences: This is a strategy that readers use to understand what they are reading. When making an inference, readers need to fill in information that the author did not include. Readers must combine what they know with details from the text.
Pictures and words (text clues) + background knowledge (what we know) = an inference

Summarize: A summary is a paragraph or a statement in your own words that gives the most important ideas from the text that was read. Step 1: find the main ideas from the selection. Step 2: shorten and combine those ideas.

Categorize and Classify: We can categorize and classify objects, evens, ideas, and characters by how they are alike and how they fit into groups. When students are reading they can find types of things that are similar and group them into the same category.

Monitor Comprehension: Students must ALWAYS monitor their comprehension while they are reading. If they don't understand what was read they need to reread it. When readers are confused they can use "fix-up" strategies. Here is a list of those strategies:
*reread more slowly
*look up words
*read on
*use picture clues
*summarize
*ask for help